238 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



Scomber scombrus Linnaeus. 

 Mackerel. Boston ]\Iackerel. 



Principally distinguished from the next by the sides of the 

 body beloAv the median line being immaculate silvery, larger size, 

 and dorsal spines X or XII. 



It is abundant at times off our coast, and I have frequently seen 

 it from Cape May. One of the best known of food-fishes, and 

 reaching a length of 18 inches. Mitchill originally described this, 

 the American form, from off Sandy Hook. Dr." H. M. Smith 

 says it occurs regularly in the spring, a fact which I have so far 



Mackerel. Scomber scombrus Linnaeus. 



been able to observe to some extent about Cape May. Though 

 I have never seen them during the summer, catches have been 

 reported. They are said to occur also in the fall. Scarce about 

 Cape May, according to reports. Sometimes a school is taken 

 in the deep-sea pounds in the fall. They run small, and are 

 mostly number twos. It has not yet been taken in Delaware Bay. 

 Scomber scombrus Smith, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XII, 1892, p. 



372. 



Scomber vernalis Mitchill, Tr. Lit. Philos. Soc. N. Y., 1815, p. 

 423.— Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 812. 



